


Gratitude

by kaze no kokyuu (Tigurijia)



Category: Kamen Rider - All Media Types, Kamen Rider Zero-One
Genre: 5yo Jin, Aruto the neighborhood friend, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Language of Flowers, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:41:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25037173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tigurijia/pseuds/kaze%20no%20kokyuu
Summary: Jin decides to give Horobi a gift to show his gratitude.
Relationships: Hiden Aruto/Jin, Horobi & Jin (Kamen Rider Zero-One)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Gratitude

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written without too much pretense after watching episode 36. I'm still confused about what happened, so I thought I'd write something... To forget. (ahah)  
> As noted, the Jin in this story is Baby Jin. Also, I always wanted to write a dialogue between Jin and Aruto about family matters, so for the first time I introduced him into my story too.

Jin hadn't forgotten Horobi's harsh words when he pointed out that some of his behaviors resembled those of human beings, but above all he couldn't forget his disappointed look when he felt a semblance of feelings in him. The Humagear had thought for a long time about the best words to address Horobi, but every time a question crossed his mind, words died in his throat. 

After tormenting himself for a long time, Jin came to the conclusion that his knowledge was still too limited, but at the same time he felt that in order to find out what the underlying problem was, he would have to somehow disobey Horobi... Just once. If he had to be honest, that thought frightened him. He adored Horobi, but sometimes his stern gaze was frightening, and Jin would much rather be appreciated than scolded by him.

After all, his idea was nothing so wrong, however close to a human feeling: he wanted to give something special to Horobi. That day Jin, returning from a mission with his father, had heard two girls discussing a "gift" to buy for their boyfriends. Jin had never heard that word before and after a brief search in his database still full of gaps he discovered that humans measured the level of closeness with a person based on affection, feelings and not exclusively in relation to their type of relationship. Those concepts were completely foreign to him, he would have wanted to ask Horobi the meaning but he was afraid to make him angry, which is why he thought it would be better to investigate on his own.

In his wandering Jin had reached places in the city that he had never visited before in the company of Horobi, obviously he would have kept the other Humagear in the dark; his gaze fell on a colored flowers stall, at the sight of all those colors his pupils dilated more than once, focusing on the brightest colors like the lens of a camera trying to capture the lights. Curiosity drove him to approach those colors, while his senses picked up a pleasant, almost intoxicating smell. At first glance those flowers seemed so delicate, moved by the light breeze, Jin felt that he could break them with his own hands if he had the chance, just as an unconscious child would do. 

He reached out a hand when suddenly another one grabbed it firmly, Jin was just in time to turn around to meet Aruto's gaze, which seemed to look different than usual. That charade lasted for a short time, just long enough for him to take on the cheerful - and according to Jin's  _ unbearable _ \- which he showed every time.

"You should ask permission before touching something that doesn't belong to you." 

Jin hastily withdrew his hand as if he had received an electric shock, showing a cautious expression to Aruto, who prepared to crouch by his side. 

"Zero One, I'm not here to fight." He knew he didn't owe the other one any explanations, but those words came out of his lips even before he had time to process them, forcing him to hurriedly bite the inside of his cheek. 

"I've been watching you for some time, I knew you had no warlike intentions." At that revelation Jin returned Aruto's gaze momentarily, turning it away when he immediately recognized that sly expression. He would have preferred to meet any human being, but not Aruto, obviously luck seemed not to be from up there.

"These beautiful flowers are cared for by a Humagear, Sakyou Ichirin, you should remember her." Jin expected a malicious tone from Aruto in mentioning the Humagear’s name, but unlike what he had imagined this didn’t happen. He watched the human reach out his hand to one of the flowers, it was a flower with white petals and apparently very delicate but didn’t break at Aruto's touch. Jin had already seen that flower elsewhere, it must have been a very common species judging by his analysis, its name was "daisy" and Jin couldn’t help thinking that that flower was really close to Aruto's profile, to his personality. 

Jin began to look through that sea of colors, looking for a flower that could remind him of Horobi, arousing the curiosity of Aruto who suddenly opened his eyes as if he had an illumination.

"Jin, don't you know that girls prefer sweets to flowers? ******* I don't know if the same goes for Humagear girls but you should find out before -" 

The frowning expression of the Humagear blocked any other word in the bud, while Jin was seriously considering withdrawing the peaceful attitude he flaunted just before and hit the Rider. He didn't do it, of course, but he imitated Aruto's gesture, touching with extreme delicacy a rather curious flower: a set of small flowers forming a large, chubby flower with purple and pink shades. It immediately made him think about his and Horobi’s suits when they were transformed.

"This flower is called _'Hydrangea'_. It’s the ideal flower to express one's gratitude to a person." 

The voice of Humagear Ichirin interrupted Jin's thoughts, giving rise to conflicting feelings, including the desire to know more about the subject. Just as a child had never had any filters in expressing what he felt, but at that moment for the first time since he had become aware of what he was, he seemed hesitant to ask a simple question.

"I'd like to give them to him..." 

"To Horobi?" 

Jin jumped, remembering the presence of Aruto who looked at him intrigued, and didn’t seem to have bad intentions. He nodded imperceptibly, though he wasn't ready to open up completely to the other boy, given the circumstances. 

"It's a beautiful thought, whatever your relationship... I'm sure he'll appreciate it. And if I'm honest, I envy you a little..."

That statement triggered in Jin a feeling unknown to him, he didn't know how to explain it not knowing the term "empathy" but in that moment he felt a deep sorrow towards Aruto, because digging in his story he knew that unlike him he couldn't rely on a father figure.  
The Humagear was unable to reply, but fortunately Aruto had the innate ability to fill every silence and this situation was no less.

"Ichirin, could you prepare a bunch of hydrangeas for Jin? I'll take care of the bill." 

The rival's crystal clear voice dismayed Jin, he stood up, eyes wide open and fists clenched with unprecedented force and it was too late when he realized that his hands were shaking. Aruto seemed to notice this reaction and got up on his own legs to level with the Humagear.

"I don't know if I will ever be able to forgive you for what you have done so far... But at the same time I have a deep faith in Humagear and I know that deep down you are not as bad as you want to prove."

*******

He returned home thoughtfully, holding in his hands a small bouquet of hydrangeas carefully prepared and packaged; the enthusiasm and curiosity that had distinguished him in the first part of that day hadn’t abandoned him, but the encounter with Zero One had left him perplexed and bothered by worries.

As soon as he set foot at the base - which he preferred to call 'home' a more familiar term - he lowered his hood, looking for Horobi, who gave him a genuinely curious look when he noticed the bouquet in the hands of the youngest. Jin replied with a smile, happy that Horobi's expression was so different from the usual one, and jumping up and down, he approached him, bringing the bouquet of flowers closer to his face.

"For you." He said, accompanying his words with a childish laugh, Horobi still seemed hesitant because of that sudden gift but accepted it with unusual uncertainty. Satisfied that he was able to surprise Horobi, Jin finally decided to give voice to his feelings. 

"I’m grateful to you for everything you do for me, for making each day fun and for allowing me to make many new friends."

Horobi summed up the serious expression of all time, but he accepted the bouquet, dwelling on the color of the petals and their nuances, he immediately grasped the reference that gave him a singular sensation of bliss. He realized he didn’t deserve that special treatment from Jin, after all he had never acted like a father in the strictest sense of the word with him, and yet the other had never reserved himself in assisting him on every mission no matter how crazy it might be.

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Jin seemed to appreciate those thanks even more, judging by his reaction: in a sudden outburst of affection he literally jumped with his arms around Horobi's neck, trying not to crush the flowers, but surprising Horobi enough to let out a surprised sound. 

The Humagear surrendered to the fact that those unpredictable moments would become more and more frequent as he spent his time with Jin and that although he tried not to let himself be carried away too much by the sentimentalism soaked in his being Humagear with a paternal function, Jin represented the son he had always wanted.

He put his hand on Jin's head, drawing him to himself in a mechanical gesture but which at that moment redeemed him more naturally than expected and for a moment he got lost in the big - surprised - eyes of the younger Humagear.

Jin had spoken of gratitude to him, but perhaps it was him who had to thank him because a son is a promise that a father will always have a friend. 

_ End _

  
  
  
  
  


******* ”Hana Yori Dango” Aruto did a reference to the title of a famous Japanese manga and TV series


End file.
